The Florida-based company showcased the new ingredients at Suppliers’ Day in New Jersey including what it claims to be the first surfactant certified by National Organic Products (NOP) that is not a castile soap.
Mild organic surfactant
According to the company, formulators searching for organic surfactants have been forced to use castile soaps from saponified organic oils, which can involve non-organic inputs and yield products that are drying on the skin.
ESP Organic Safe-Surf SC-Pro is an NOP organic certified surfactant made from coconut oil that cleans and foams, and is mild on the skin, explained ESP president Peter Boncelet.
Hurdle technology for cosmetics
The company also highlighted its organic preservative alternative ESP Organic SafeGuard, which it claims can be used effectively at concentrations as low as 0.2 per cent.
“SafeGuard is based on hurdle technology which has been borrowed from the food industry,” explained Boncelet.
“Rather than kill the microbes, we add a range of organic certified materials that make it impossible for the microbes to survive.”
Hurdles that can be used to inhibit microbial survival include anything that will impact the homeostasis, metabolic exhaustion and stress reactions of microorganisms, for example temperature changes, acidity and redox potential.
SafeGuard contains a combination of USDA certified organic ingredients that disrupt microbial homeostasis, preventing them from multiplying and causing them to remain inactive or die, explained the company.
“The lack of effective organic preservative alternatives has meant formulators have been obliged to focus on anhydrous formulations, ones without water. Organically acceptable alternatives should widen the number of formulations possible,” Boncelet said.
In order to hear Peter Boncelet talk about the challenges of organic formulation click here.